Timeline of Major Events in Asia 1915-1928
This timeline concerns major events in East Asia as a whole. ---- 1915 Japan imposes the Twenty One Demands on China, breaching the nominal “Open Door Policy” promoted by the United States and Great Britain, and in doing so straining the Anglo-Japanese alliance. Crucially, the first group of demands confirms Japanese seizure of German possessions on the Shandong Peninsula. 1918 Following the strategic defeat suffered at the Second Battle of Jutland, Britain requests increased Japanese commitment to the war at sea. Surprised and worried by the Royal Navy’s poor performance, and remaining concerned by American competition at home in East Asia (the Lansing-Ishii Agreement is never signed), the Japanese government communicates that the request will be “difficult” to fulfill. Additional cruisers and destroyers are dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean, supporting British operations in Egypt and the Levant, but larger ships required to offset the German High Seas Fleet in the Atlantic are not forthcoming. Their absence is seen to be a sign of Japanese reluctance to aid Britain in its hour of greatest need, leading to a cooling of Anglo-Japanese relations, and further damaging their once close alliance. 1919 With Japanese troops in Qingdao, and their claims backed by treaty with China, the Japanese delegation at the Copenhagen Conference insists that their more recent agreement supersedes Germany’s earlier claims. Seeing this insistence as a potential spoiler to the very much desired end to the war, the British delegation do not support Japanese motions to retain the Shandong concessions after German refusal in the first round of negotiations. Feeling isolated and insulted, the Japanese delegation walks out of the conference, and the government in Tokyo officially denounces the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Japan does not sign the Armistice, and remains formally at war with the Central Powers. 1922 Following the Peace with Honor in late 1921, which functionally terminates the Anglo-Japanese Alliance due to the war’s end, Japan occupies an advantageous and yet precarious position. With German colonies in its grasp and the British Empire greatly weakened, Japan stands to be the sole dominant power in China; the Kaiserliche Marine unable to risk deploying the bulk of its fleet so far from home. At the same time, Japan is now internationally isolated and without a clear ally. While this may not be an immediate concern, there is little question that Japan will eventually need to face both a recovered Imperial Germany and the rising industrial power of the United States. An opportunity arises when the American McAdoo administration calls for the reconstitution of the lapsed Six-Power Consortium, which during its existence had monopolized foreign loans and investments to the Chinese central government. On paper, the purpose of reviving this 'China Consortium' is to promote peaceful collaboration amongst world powers and contribute to the economic development of East Asia. In reality, the agreement risks undermining Japan's already strong hand on the continent, especially if Japan is excluded and left to compete with consortium as a whole. Sensing the true nature of the proposition, London supports Washington, and Berlin expresses its own interest. Concerned, but realizing that an agreement could both avoid isolation and firmly guarantee at least some of Japan's gains in China, Tokyo agrees to negotiate on the condition that Manchuria be excluded from the revived consortium, permitting Japan continued monopoly of the Manchurian economy. However, the existing technical state of war between German and Japan still complicates the initiative, and neither side will accept any agreement that may appear to be a recognition of the others' claims to the Shandong Concession. After months of negotiation, an agreement for a return to the pre-war territorial status-quo is reached. Japan's 'existing special interests' are explicitly excluded from the activities of the now-called Second China Consortium. Japan and Germany sign a separate peace treaty, in which no reference to the Shandong Concession appears, while Japan's 'special interests' in Manchuria are recognized by Germany. In essence, Japan and Germany trade the Shandong concession for the recognition of Japanese interests in Manchuria. In Japan this diplomatic deal, trading all conquests from Germany for verbal recognition of long-established interests, proves to be unpopular, and the agreement is derided as a "Second Triple Intervention" by opponents, in reference to the humiliating experience of 1895 where similarly conquered territory was denied to Japan by a diplomatic intervention from Russia, Germany, and France. In November, as the last Japanese troops evacuate the city of Tsingtau and the surrounding areas, the Takahashi government collapses under condemnation and public pressure. 1925 The British Revolution throws its empire into chaos, and the retreat of the East China Station to Australia to put down insurrection leaves its concessions in China largely unprotected. The Nationalist Government in Guangzhou declares its intent to retake Hong Kong, leading Governor Claud Severn to request the German garrison in Guangzhouwan to ensure the concession’s security. The incident leads the other powers with holdings in China to guarantee Britain’s concessions, shortly followed by German, American, and Japanese expeditionary forces. Russia and Austria-Hungary deploy token reinforcements to their concessions. These depart after roughly two months, but German and Japanese garrisons remain, alongside a continued American presence in Shanghai and Tianjin. Notably, this includes Brigadier-General MacArthur’s 23rd Infantry Regiment deployed from Manila. 1926 The Northern Expedition begins on July 9th, with KMT forces surging toward Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai. Perceiving the expedition as Syndicalist due to French aid, and as a threat to the existing order in China, the concessions garrisons are placed at a heightened state of alert. Despite a string of early battlefield successes and a series of uprisings across coastal China, the German intervention beginning a week later eventually leads to the disintegration of the Expedition and the KMT leadership, much of which flees to France. Wu Peifu, at German insistence, pressures the remaining members of the Beiyang Assembly to declare the restoration of the Xuantong Emperor and call for the formation of a new government. All international treaties are announced to be upheld, but those made during the interregnum between 1911 and 1926 are declared illegitimate, notably including the Twenty One Demands. For roughly the next two years the Zhili/Qing military government in Beijing rules by fiat. 1927 After weeks of stalemate at Shanhaiguan east of Beijing, and with Zhili reinforcements moving northward, Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu agree to a ceasefire in early February. With peace largely restored and expenses mounting, the majority of German forces withdraw, leaving a military mission in Beijing under Falkenhausen and substantial garrisons in the still-disputed British concessions. Eager to take advantage of their substantially improved position in China, the German government enters negotiations for further concessions from the Qing government. Wu Peifu rejects these out of hand, though Sun Chuanfang is found to be far more receptive. The confidential nature of the discussions, incidents around the existing concessions, and the complex situation in Eastern and Southern China slows them considerably. Over the next several years, these discussions form the foundation for the so-called “AOG”. Worried by Germany’s position, Japan begins pushing Zhang Zuolin to resume the war and retake Beijing, providing extensive equipment while secretly using its contacts on the continent to help loop others into alliance against Wu Peifu. Yan Xishan in Shanxi is particularly receptive, followed by Tang Jiyao in Yunnan and Zhang Zhongchang in Shandong. Several incidents occur in and near the international concessions in Hankou, Shanghai, and Tianjin, leading to an escalation of tensions between Japanese and German garrisons, as well as provincial Chinese forces. Japanese shipments of weapons to Zhang Zongchang in Shandong are discovered by German agents, leading to formal protests from Berlin, Washington, and Beijing. Much of the remainder of the year is spent consolidating, rebuilding, and preparing by both sides. 1928 March Shanxi declares the Qing government illegitimate, followed by Yunnan, in an arrangement designed to re-ignite the war. Fengtian and its allies immediately mobilize, but Zhang Zongchang reneges on his prior agreements, using his newly supplied Japanese arms to consolidate his own rule instead. Nonetheless, a substantial Qing force garrisons Jinan for the duration of the conflict. Expecting most hostile forces to be occupied in the North and East, a Shanxi expedition striking south to take Luoyang is surprised, cut off, and eliminated by a superior Qing army, while Tang Jiyao’s troops are bogged down in the mountains of Sichuan and Western Hunan. With a breakthrough nearly impossible at Shanhaiguan, as it had been four years earlier, the war thus enters a stalemate. April In attempts to shift the war in their favor, both Germany and Japan provide increasingly direct assistance. German-piloted aircraft appear over Beijing, and Japanese divisions wearing Chinese uniforms reinforce Fengtian. After nearly two months of fighting, Qing forces make a breakthrough at Yangquan, threatening Yan’s capital at Taiyuan, and bringing him close to dropping out of the war. July As Qing divisions move West and North, and the economy takes a turn for the worse, a certain level of lawlessness returns to areas of Eastern China, quickly exploited by KMT holdouts, bandits, and “sword societies” such as the Red Spears. Foreigners become frequent targets. When a train travelling from Shanghai to Tianjin is derailed outside Suzhou and its occupants kidnapped by LEP deserters, the Japanese garrison in Shanghai seizes the opportunity to mount a “rescue expedition”. Thanks to the unilateral nature of the action, little to no prior warning provided by the Japanese, and the ongoing war to the north, Chinese and Japanese forces quickly escalate into a shooting war before superiors in Nanjing, Shanghai, or Tokyo are notified. Beijing lodges a fierce protest at the violation of their sovereignty, and riots break out in the Jiangnan region, but more importantly Germany threatens to intercede. For nearly forty eight hours the conflict looks likely to escalate even further as the sides assess the situation and the foreign ministries in Berlin and Tokyo frantically aim to avoid war. A solution emerges when the United States offers to mediate, and though fighting continues between the Chinese factions elsewhere in China, a ceasefire is organized for the area surrounding Shanghai. This mediation comes at a cost however, with the Americans insisting on a “permanent solution” to the balance of power conflict in East Asia in addition to a de-escalation of the immediate crisis. Though this gives the United States a stronger hand than it ought to have in determining the course of regional affairs given its recent plunge into depression, both Germany and Japan are eager to avoid further escalation. The result of preliminary talks is a call for an American-mediated conference in Shanghai involving all foreign powers with treaty commitments in China, though the primary players are Germany, Japan, and the United States. Talks are almost ended before they begin when Germany and Japan insist upon Canadian non-participation due to the “lack of a responsible British government”, leading American delegate Quentin Roosevelt to suggest the Canadian delegation participate in an “observational role”. An original proponent of the conference in Washington, Quentin goes on to play a major role in the negotiations in the footsteps of his father thirty years before. August What had began as an attempt to merely resolve conflicts in China and East Asia, the conference further develops into a comprehensive restructuring of the relationship between China and the international powers, heavily shaped by the American insistence on “Open Doors” through which all nations can trade equally with China. The success of the agreement, creating an International Mandate for the Chinese Concessions, is dependent on Japan’s hopes to avoid further international isolation, German desires to expand influence in China without further significant military commitment, and American aspirations to preserve their own position despite a public with little desire for military adventurism. The new International Mandate, commonly referred to as the “Legation Cities” after the Legation Quarter in Beijing where its existence was formally declared, subsequently exists as an expanded and modified version of the earlier “International Settlement” in Shanghai; each city retaining its historic national districts but operating under a shared governor or local municipal council, themselves in turn theoretically subordinate to the “Consular Council” representing the interests of each member state. In addition, the powers agree to bring about an end to the ongoing conflict in China, bringing both sides to sign an armistice, and the Cliques in Shanxi and Yunnan to recognize the Qing government in Beijing. The Fengtian Clique stands as an exception, signing the armistice but refusing to recognize the Qing as legitimate thanks to Japanese insistence. This later declares itself a legitimate Republican government in opposition, but receives recognition from only Japan and Transamur. Despite its members walking away from the conference mostly satisfied, the public reactions at home were something else entirely due to unrealistic expectations. The Japanese delegation, perceived to have abandoned its responsibilities by failing to return Shandong to Japanese stewardship, faces humiliation and death threats, while the German representatives are seen as having failed to capitalize upon Germany’s superior position in China. The American delegation, though less harshly criticized, is considered to have made useless foreign commitments as the country struggles with an increasingly dire depression. Category:History Category:Timelines